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Oklahoma City Barons: New-look Barons take on Charlotte on Friday and Saturday

Oklahoma City has lost a combined 55 goals with the departure of Jordan Eberle, Justin Schultz, Taylor Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

By Mike Baldwin •
Published: January 10, 2013

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Oklahoma City's Teemu Hartikainen (10) skates away from San Antonio's Nolan Yonkman (43) in the second period during the AHL hockey game between the Oklahoma City Barons and the San Antonio Rampage at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

When the NHL lockout ended, no team in the American Hockey League lost as much firepower as the Oklahoma City Barons.

The Barons will be looking for other players to find the net when they open a three-game weekend series that begins at 7 Friday night against South Division-leading Charlotte.

“More than anything, we have to play as a team to be successful,” said team captain Josh Green. “We can't rely on three or four guys doing the bulk of scoring. We all have to chip in. And we'll have to play better defensively because we're not going to score as many goals.”

Losing the “Fab Four” was just the first wave of players headed to Edmonton.

After Friday's game, Teemu Hartikainen, Magnus Paajarvi, Chris VandeVelde and Colten Teubert are expected to join Edmonton's training camp, which starts Sunday. Hartikainen and Paajarvi are projected to stick with the Oilers when the NHL season opens.

“The biggest thing is that our team comes together like last year,” said coach Todd Nelson. “Now there is no uncertainty. Now everybody can move forward. We can tweak our lineup as we see fit. Right now, I like the chemistry I have here.”

Barons general manager Bill Scott might sign a free agent but could wait until NHL teams make roster cuts late next week. He won't be adding veteran defenseman Bryan Helmer, who signed with Springfield. Helmer spent the last two seasons in Oklahoma City.

The Barons have added forwards Toni Rajala, Ryan Martindale and Philippe Cornet, who were promoted from Stockton of the Double-A ECHL.